A busy January slate of football and basketball catapulted Colorado sports betting to new record heights.
Colorado sports bettors wagered $573.7 million during the month, according to a Colorado Department of Revenue report released Tuesday. The handle is up 24.3% from December’s $461.4 million and 16.7% from the previous record, $491.5 million, set in October 2021.
It is the fifth-highest state handle reported from January, behind New York, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania. However, Illinois sports betting will likely outpace Colorado once regulators report January figures.
Online CO sportsbooks took $567 million in bets, or 98.8% of the action.
Colorado revenue not quite record level
Colorado sportsbooks generated $34.6 million in gross sports betting revenue, holding 6%. That is just under the record $36.8 million in revenue generated in November 2021.
Sportsbooks shelled out $21.5 million in promotions, bringing adjusted revenue down to $11.7 million.
The state collected $1.5 million in taxes.
NFL, NBA rule January in Colorado
The Denver Nuggets might not be leading the pack in the NBA Western Conference, but MVP candidate Nikola Jokić seems to keep bettors engaged. Colorado sportsbooks took $163.6 million in professional basketball bets.
The NFL slate drew $144.1 million in bets. Parlays brought in $90.9 million in bets.
Best of the rest:
- College basketball: $63.1 million
- Ice hockey: $24.7 million
- Tennis: $20.0 million
- College football: $16.0 million
- Soccer: $14.7 million
- Table Tennis: $7.6 million
Colorado February sports betting outlook
The Colorado Department of Revenue did provide Super Bowl betting figures in February. The full report will not be released until next month.
The big game drew $41 million in bets, up 31.5% from 2021. CO sportsbooks held 10.9%, generating $4.5 million in revenue.
In February 2021, Colorado bettors wagered $266.5 million. January 2022 was a 75.5% increase from January 2021’s $326.9 million.
